


Part 8 (Gladiolus x Reader)

by hypaalicious



Series: Chocobros x Reader [11]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Action, F/M, Porn with too much plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 00:31:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16713046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypaalicious/pseuds/hypaalicious
Summary: The daemons have gotten footholds in the walls that surround the largest gathering of humanity left in the dark plunged world of Eos, and you rush against the clock to defend Lestallum with your comrades.  In the midst of the brawl, someone you didn't think you'd see come around again appears in the knick of time.





	Part 8 (Gladiolus x Reader)

**Author's Note:**

> I got carried away with fight scenes and remembered that this was supposed to be a smut fic halfway through, HAHA! Anyway... have a enjoy with gladdy daddy, k?

“Iggy, what’s your status?" 

“We’ve gotten the worst of the mob down on the east side of town, and are slowly pushing them back.”  Static crackled through the miniature earpiece you wore.  “Yet the west wall’s guard may still be compromised.  Are you in route?" 

“Yes,” you huffed out, your legs burning as you covered more distance at an increased pace than what you were used to.  The Lestallum streets, normally bustling with constant activity, were bare in the wake of the emergency that set upon suddenly in the everlasting night, and made it go as smooth as possible, but you had forgotten how large the city was when you were hightailing it from one end to the other.  

“Be safe.  Stay in contact as you can.  Should things settle sooner than expected, Prompto and I will move to your location post haste." 

A small smile turned on your lips. _I swear, sometimes he forgets that I can handle my own._  Yet, you relished in the feel of being coddled by Ignis, or as much as you two allowed for seasoned warriors that would rush to be the first on the front lines whenever the situation called for it. “Got it.  Both of you hold it down, too.”  A span of a few ragged breaths lapsed before you added, “Love you." 

“I love you, too." 

You didn’t know why sometimes you felt odd about saying it openly like that, even after all the time had passed with the two of you living together and being domestic in just about every sense of the word.  In private was one matter, when you two were intertwined between the sheets and whispered words were common just before drifting off into sleep.  But out in the open, where words carried on the wind where others could hear, it was with a strange sort of exhilaration even as the brunt of your focus was stopping the pincher attack that came out of nowhere on the city limits. It made it more real each time you said it to each other, and after being separated for a time between the downfall of Altissia and Noct’s pilgrimage to the Crystal, it was an unsaid agreement that you two wouldn’t take anything for granted.  You and Ignis had managed to grasp that fantasy privately admitted in an Altissian hotel room ages ago, but you also knew that it had a time limit.  The interim until Noct’s resurgence was coming to an end, and while you knew you would have an almost indescribable joy at seeing your king again, it would mean letting go of what you had now in a sense. 

At least, until the final deed was done, and light was returned to Eos once more.  But that meant another sacrifice you didn’t want to see come to pass. 

_Why the hell am I thinking about this now in a crisis? Damn my brain._

Giving your musings a hard shove to the corner of your consciousness, you glimpsed a bit of smoke rising in the nearing view, and you poured a little bit more energy in your pace.  The bright halogen lights that flooded that part of the perimeter flickered, and you knew if they went out completely, then damages would be harder to contain.  The worst had already happened on the eastern side, which had both Ignis and Prompto working with the brunt of Lestallum’s guard to keep casualties to a minimum.  The gunman’s arrival not just a week ago came just in time, as he could use his handiness with tech to quickly get a generator back up to speed while also sniping daemons from his vantage point.  This unfortunately left the western wall and many other areas sparse, and you reluctantly left your station with the others to assist.  You loathed being apart from two of the most precious people in your life in times like these, having terribly missed fighting together, but you did what had to be done.  Pleased to see that the wall was still intact, but less so to hear the growls and other guttural sounds that were unique to daemons too close for comfort, you slowed to a halt as you saw one of the guard with a phone to his ear, shouting off instructions to another unit elsewhere in the city. 

“Is the generator holding?”  You cut right to the chase, and he glanced at you before muttering a quick reply and putting his phone down. 

“It is, but I dunno for how long.”  He jerked his chin to the top of the wall, where a few other people were stationed, firing down at the unseen mob on the other side.  “They got enough of it down to where there’s this sweet spot they’re working on, and we can’t spare anyone to even make a run to the thing till we get that handled.  It’s just an uphill battle." 

Setting your jaw, you nodded at the information given and followed his gaze.  “Get me up there.  I’ll see what I can do to cull the masses." 

It didn’t take long for the makeshift lift the guards used to be lowered a few feet from you, and you stepped into it before getting it to carry you to your destination.  Butterflies in your stomach grew little by little as you had nothing to do but hear the racket you were approaching become louder, but still had you unable to do anything but count the amount of cinderblocks it took to get to the top. Pre-battle jitters were not something that you had ever grown out of, but they always spurred you into action when you needed the boost, and you came to welcome the slightly uncomfortable tension that strummed all of your nerves to a point.  Finally, the lift reached the top, and you bolted out of it to stand with the harrowed bunch of soldiers giving it all they got from range to keep the daemons at bay.  You leaned a bit forward to cast your gaze down to the mess, and winced at the ghastly figures trying hard to either climb the wall or eat right through it.  In the darkness, it was hard to see just how many of them there were, with only the ethereal arch of red-tinged lightning that accompanied many of the hellspawn.  The more you gazed down into that abyss, flashes from the muzzles of firearms caught on a pair of claws, then slithering appendages, and open maws lined with jagged teeth that gave you a little shiver.  It was nothing that you hadn’t encountered before, but for whatever reason, seeing them in intervals within roiling clouds of darkness was freakier to behold.  Tearing your eyes away from that mess, you took stock of the distance from the wall to the generator.  It wasn’t too far, but with an army of archfiends in your way, it certainly seemed impassible. 

_Well.  Surely I’ve dealt with worse.  But Iggy is gonna kill me for this._

“Hold your fire,” you called out down the line, and the constant sound of gunshots firing in a patterned frenzy slowed to a halt.  “I’m going to clear a way to the generator." 

“What?!” One of the exclaimed incredulously. “Are you nuts?" 

“Maybe,” you conceded, looking back down below.  “But you’ll run out of ammo before you make a dent in them.  So if that’s the best you guys have come up with, let me try to make actual headway with this." 

None of them knew your history, and although it made it difficult to get much of the guard to take you seriously as a seasoned warrior as well as being a woman, you preferred it this way.  If the people in the city knew that you, Ignis, and Prompto were a part of the chosen king’s entourage, then it would be more trouble than it was worth.  Playing that card would definitely garner immediate respect and awe from anyone they passed, but also levy an uncomfortable amount of attention and expectations from people they knew they would have to leave in order to save when the time came.  

“Well…” another one of them traded glances with the person next to them, and doubt was written all over their faces.  “I don’t like it… but… worst that happens is that she gets herself killed and we go back to holding the fort, right?" 

You rolled your eyes. _Thanks for the vote of confidence. This gets old fast.  You’d think after helping them take down other threats that they would stop looking at me like I’m growing an extra head out of my neck._

“Yeah, let her go.  She may be crazy, but she’s got a point; we’re not getting anywhere like this.” He nodded at you in assent.  “Want us to cover you?" 

“As you can.  But I’m not trying to be felled by a bullet from an ally any more than the fangs of a daemon tonight, so keep those aims true.”  You could count on Prompto to mow down a fleet of daemons a hair’s breath away from your face no matter where he stood to fire the shots, but you didn’t know about this lot.  However, you were going to take a big chance already in your plan, so you took a few steps back from the edge... 

… then took off at a run and jumped right off of it into the unknown below. 

It was quite a drop; you knew that if you had tried that with nothing between you and the ground, at the least you would have blown both of your kneecaps and rolled an ankle shouldering a straight impact.  But you were banking on the volume of daemons there, and you allowed your first victim to cushion your fall with your heart hammering in your chest.  An inhuman shriek sounded, and the moment you felt tension from the force of the ground coming to meet you two, you turned that into a practiced roll that brought you safely to dirt.  With one hand, you called your weapon to you, the blueprint of it materializing in your palm to become something solid, while the other slapped the circular light that was strapped to your upper body. It came to life, blazing a beam that caused the daemons to hiss and hustle to escape the path, and you turned constantly, sizing up the group that was giving you a wide berth.  Cindy Aurum still worked tirelessly even though her hobby of tinkering with cars fell by the wayside, and had outfitted your body light with the same tech that once made the Regalia untouchable during night drives. 

The downside to it was that you had to keep moving; while it was powerful, it was also one directional and concentrated, so leaving your back open to attack wasn’t smart. _There are a lot of them, alright._  You also realized a bit too late that there weren’t any lifts back up the wall from the outside.   _Whoops._  The hoarde toed the circumference of your light circle, and you swung outwards with your weapon, driving them back as needed. 

_Alright, _________.  Make this happen._

Turning on your heel, you started running towards the generator, trying to pay as little mind to the conglomerate roar that the daemons belted out as they gave chase.  Through the pounding of your booted feet on the ground, you could hear the pop of shells going off again, and hoped that they could get some of them off of the wall and away from civilization now that you had pissed the hellspawn off.  You kept going, keeping your sight ahead in the path the light showed you, and jumped for the rungs of the ladder that was welded to the side of the the generator.  Something caught the edge of the material you were wearing, and you heard the tell tale rip of the back of your pants leg giving way to a clawed swipe from one of them, but you weren’t stopping.  You just climbed like your life depended on it (which it did), and scrambled off of the last rung and wasted no time cutting the head off of an imp that didn’t move fast enough and getting rid of the other by blasting it in the face with the full brunt of your body light.  Feeling satisfaction at the wisps of black dust evaporating into the night sky, you got to the controls and open circuit breaker box and started scanning which switches were which. _I don’t know why I thought that they would be chewing on cords, but maybe I got to them before they could do any permanent damage._  You were a sitting duck as you were, and your hands held a bit of an annoying tremble as you traced the board for the switch that would save the wall from its current state of being under siege.  You thought about touching base with Ignis as promised, but you knew if you told him where you actually were, he would drop everything that he was doing in the effort on the other side of town to come out there just to be with you… which wouldn’t be good.  Only one of you needed to risk themselves like this. 

_C’mon… just find the right one._  The sounds of daemons surging the temporarily darkened generator seemed nearer than they were, and you tampered down your human fear of things that go bump in the night to stay as focused as possible.  You couldn’t just start flipping anything, lest you make a mistake and put another portion of the west side of Lestallum in darkness just to emblazon another.  Finally, your brain comprehended the small text that told you that was the button you were looking for, and quickly slammed it back into position. 

The hum of electricity grew louder, and the hair on your arms stood up in a good way as the immediate area surrounding the generator brightened.  More importantly, you peered off into the distance and saw that the black gap that was filled with attacking daemons was lit now as well, and your shoulders sagged in relief. _Thank the Astrals something has gone right in this  whirlwind of a day._  All of the tension that you had built up running back and forth eased out of you, and you took a small moment to relax in the halo of light that encompassed the generator.  Reaching up to the device in your ear, you tapped it once. “Iggy? Prom?  Do you copy? What’s your status?" 

“Ehhhh…” Prompto’s unimpressed voice sounded, coupled by a few gunshots. “It _was_ okay, but then a Mindflayer showed.  It’s got a bunch of troops flipping at their own shadows right now due to its toxin.  They aren’t used to the stuff I tangle with on a regular basis, and didn’t know how how to avoid their attacks." 

“That’s… no good.  What about generator status and covering the hole in that wall?”  You started making your way down the ladder. 

“I got the generator up, but the power keeps surging.  Evidently having part of this thing cut off suddenly isn’t good for it, and it goes haywire trying to re-calibrate to the stasis it was before the attack.” He grunts at bit, and a few more shots ring out.  “Just trying to get the last few hearty daemons off of our tail, and we should be home free.  What about you?" 

“Generator is restored on the west gate,” you said plainly, choosing not to elaborate just how it had gotten back up.  “I’m going to check up on the guys one last time here before getting back over there.  How’s Iggy?" 

“Kicking a _lot_ of ass for a blind man,” Prompto said, and you giggled a little bit at the mixture of pride and awe in his tone. “I think he’s even more fluid than he was when we last fought together.  You guys did good over the years." 

You started walking back towards town, a breeze tickling your face as you went.  “Ignis would have put up with no less.  The beginning stages were _not_ pretty, but now he’s become a well oiled machine." 

“In bed, or…?" 

“Oh my GOD, Prom,” you hollered.  “Concentrate on saving Lestallum and less on roasting my man, please.  ________, out.”  You switched off communication just as you heard Prompto’s infectious laughter come through, and you smiled to yourself.  You and Ignis were content with each other, but having the sunshine boy back really did allow both of you to be reacquainted with a happy-go-lucky vibe that only he could bring. 

However, all of the daydreaming that you were doing about times past as well as how things were now had you wandering outside of the immediate comfort of the lights you just helped get back on.  It was funny, how just a minor lull in vigilance could cost you more than you bargained for. 

And in your case, it was the direct hit from the flat of an Iron Giant’s blade that had you uprooted from your stroll to flying sideways through the air before you could fully comprehend what had happened.  In fact, it wasn’t until you hit the unyielding ground and rolled a few more feet that it sunk in.  The scenery around you spinning even as your body had stopped made it hard for you to get your bearings, but you stumbled to your feet in the dirt as you clutched your weapon and tapped again at the light on your chest. 

It didn’t respond. 

_Fuck.  The fall must have busted it._  Gritting your teeth, you figured that your entire left side of your body would be well and bruised by tomorrow, but still cracked your neck a few times and sized up your opponent. The backlight made from the restored generator yards away cast the shadowed Iron Giant to be an imposing silhouette, and it took a heavy step towards you as you wracked your brain to figure out how to get out of it.  Without your flashlight, it was going to be a lot harder to get by something so large but also was deceptively fast and had as long as a wingspan as it did, and the more it approached, the more you realized you were being led further away from civilization and into deeper darkness. _Other daemons are bound to start spawning, and I’ll be blocked in._  Nervousness started kicking up in your system as you ran through many other possible ways to get away, and landed on none feasible. 

You swallowed hard, and thought about your last resort of making a distress call to Prompto and Ignis.  But the probability that they would even make it to you in time was very low, especially since you saw the beast rear back its heavy sword arm in order to smash you into the earth once and for all.  So you focused on spreading your stance as wide as you could to brace yourself against what was coming, knowing that you would not likely not survive it.  You even closed your eyes as you saw your death approaching, and sent a final wish out into the night.   _I’m sorry, Iggy._

The sound of metal clashing together jolted you out of your resolution to die, and you blinked at the dark form of someone who actually had the balls to block the trajectory of an Iron Giant’s strike and not turn into a pancake while doing it.  His weapon was large, as long as your savior was tall and about half as wide.  And more importantly, it was holding off a hit that would have pulverized you in seconds if he hadn’t interfered.   _Who the hell else is out here beyond the walls?  Did they feel sorry for me and send someone to make sure I made it back okay after all?_

“ _Go_!” The man barked, and in a mighty show of strength, moved the Iron Giant with a shove back.  The hulk of a daemon stumbled half a step, an eerie light within its helmet flickering ominously at the new challenge. You only hesitated for a moment longer before springing into action, running back for the relative safety of the well-lit generator.  You wanted to stay and help, but he had given you an opportunity to escape.  It was best for you to not look a gift horse in the mouth where that was concerned, as you had already played crazy hero once in a night.  You didn’t slow until you were safely leaned against the humming wall of the power source, taking wheezing breaths and letting the adrenaline of the moment fade just enough to feel just how hard you fell and what was possibly injured.  You took quick stock of yourself, finding that you had lost your earpiece in the collision but your phone was mostly unscathed in a pocket.  By some miracle, you weren’t bleeding, but you did suffer quite a bit of blunt trauma that was radiating pain all down your side underneath your clothes. 

Your shakes weren’t completely gone, and you were annoyed at that fact.  But it was less because of the close call that you encountered and more because in just one uttered word, you felt like you knew who it was.  You didn’t know how to process that information, however, and you weren’t going to go right back out into the depths of the night to tap him on the shoulder and ask for a name.  But you were pretty sure that no one else in Eos had the sword and the balls to do what you just witnessed, and your mind whirled with all of the things that you wanted to say to him if it was proven true. 

Footsteps crunched on the gravel near you, and you wearily lifted your head and peered out in the direction it was coming from. _Is it him?_

It took a few more baited moments of movement before your savior stepped within the circle of light, and he stopped to look at you as hard as you were looking at him. 

In ten years, none of you had heard hide nor hair from Gladiolus Amicitia.  He had stormed off in a convoluted fit from the deck of Zegnautus Keep and effectively dropped off the face of Eos to anyone who cared about him.  Whenever you did come across Iris, who had grown into a fine young woman with the same talent of daemon killing as anyone else did in her family line, you tried asking if she had heard from him or seen him… yet never got a straight answer.  Eventually, you gave up asking.  Gave up hoping that Gladio would come around and show that you all still mattered to him.  And now there he was, illuminated like a rugged angel with amber eyes boring into yours.  Fully grown out of the half mullet that he sported, what part of his long brown hair that wasn’t pulled back in a ponytail was laid over his broad shoulders.  He still kept his fashion of leather pants and a tank top, but the maturity of his presence in that moment almost made you think that you were looking at a stranger that resembled someone you once knew. 

“… so _now_ you show up?" 

Gladio’s eyes narrowed a bit at your terse welcome, and you felt your inner turmoil hitch along with it. “I could have just left you out there to suffer the consequences of your piss poor lapse in judgment, but you’re welcome." 

“Might as well have,” you shot back.  “You abandoned us years ago, so why pretend that you give a shit now?" 

His adam’s apple moved.  “I always gave a shit, _______.  I just needed time." 

You couldn’t help the bitter, sardonic laughter that erupted from your mouth at his words.  “A decade? A whole fucking _decade_ of being AWOL?  Noct has an alibi, you don’t.  You knew where we were.  You _knew_ where to come find us.  You just didn’t." 

Silence stretched between you two.  You hated unloading on him like this; a part of you wanted to just run into his arms as openly as you did with Prom when he resurfaced, but all of the hurt that you had packed away was flying out of the closet and laid bare at your feet.  Prompto did his best to keep in touch even when he was on the other side of the world, and for all you knew, Gladio could have been right under your nose the entire time and never bothered to make himself known. 

“You did fine without me." 

“How the fuck would you know??  You just assumed since we weren’t dead in a ditch somewhere with daemons picking at our bones that you could just spit on the memory of the family we were for so long?” 

He ran a hand over his hair, sighing in a strange mixture of exasperation and regret. “I didn’t mean to-" 

“It’s not hard to check in!” You pushed onward, the blurriness in your vision a taletell sign of impending tears. 

“You don’t understand…" 

“Try me, then!" 

“You _can’t_ fucking understand!” Gladio’s voice roared back at you, and you clamped your lips together in a fine line.  “You weren’t fucking raised in a family line that held one purpose; to be the Lucian king’s Shield.  This fucking tattoo I got with pride, thinking I knew what it meant.”  He gestures to his bare arms, the wingspan of the massive eagle curling around his biceps and down to his wrist.  “This was my whole life. My whole _fucking_ life is now a lie because of a prophecy that tells me that all that I did is protect my king from small dangers while ushering him off to the biggest one of all.  The one thing that I wish I could shield him from, I can’t.  And the shittiest thing about this is that my dad _knew_.  Noct’s dad _knew_. If Iggy put two and two together because he happened to dig a little too deep in the Royal library, then I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole damn council knew and just let us be oblivious.  That they thought _that_ was better for all of us." 

Your eyes drifted downwards to the earth beneath you, and you let what Gladio said settle over you like a wet cloth, making you feel clammy.  It wasn’t something that you had considered, and you kind of wish that he hadn’t brought it up… as who was left to be angry at for the well-intentioned, but still glaringly obvious deception you all had been cloaked in?  You let yourself think about how much that was Gladio’s burden to bear, and began to feel sorry for him… until you also thought about the fact that he stubbornly decided to carry it alone. 

“Did you forget that you’re not the only one that was on that journey with Noct?  That we _all_ were right there with him in our own ways, unknowingly leading him to his pre-ordained death?  Astrals, you’re more self-centered than I thought,” you folded your arms across your chest, watching Gladio’s eyebrows raise up to his hairline at your rebuttal. 

“I didn’t forget, you stubborn woman, I just-" 

“Weren’t man enough to heal with the people that mattered, I got it.  No further explanation needed,” you flippantly brushed him off, not caring how many lines you crossed anymore.  Even though you stonily looked away, you didn’t turn your head fast enough to avoid seeing how his chest puffed up and the incredulousness that laced his figure tipped right on over into irascibility.  You heard the crack of a heavy footstep on gravel approaching you, and rolled your head and eyes back at him, ready for any challenge he would bring... 

And the lights in your area went out. 

“… what the _fuck_ is going on?”  Gladio spat.  “Didn’t you fix this damn thing??" 

“Power surge.  Prom told me about it.”  The heavy weight of your weapon settled into your hand for comfort, knowing that you would likely need it in the upcoming moments.  “It’s the generator re-calibrating." 

“How lovely.” The biting sarcasm in his voice was precursor to the flash of light that signified him calling in his broadsword once again, and you followed it to close ranks with him.  You heard the gurgles of daemons coming into existence, likely ravenous for what seemed to be easy snacks traipsing through their territory of calignosity.  “I’ll be too busy to save you again, ______.  So don’t fuck up." 

“Noted,” you answered with a clipped tone, but despite both of your scathing commentary back and forth, your backs met each other in a comfortable stance that had been way too long than either of you had experienced.  You slipped back into the mindset of a warrior the more you felt the denizens of darkness gather around you two, and knowing that you had someone with you this time was empowering. _Even if he wants to bite my head off and feed it to the first daemon who screeches too loud._   Your bodies relaxed into that state of tense calmness that precluded a spring to action, staring hard enough the night for any kind of movement to let you know where you would be landing your first blow. 

An imp took the first chance of barreling forward, and promptly got stabbed in the face for its transgression. 

From there, a brawl erupted, where the uncountable numbers of daemons manifested and sprung at you both, hoping to overwhelm you into submission.  It was a messy situation through and through, but almost as if ten years never passed at all, you and Gladio moved into a combatant’s dance, complimenting the other as you kept them off your skin.  Mechanical yet fluid, you knew when to duck when Gladio took a large arcing swing that sliced part of the mob in half, and he knew when to give you just enough room to spin and take out a couple more that thought there was an opening.  Your arm tired of whaling back and forth, but you couldn’t stop; neither of you were planning to clear the horde.  It was just a game of waiting out the ticking of the clock until the generator blazed back to full health again.  You only stumbled once, and even though you caught yourself before you fell, you swore you felt Gladio’s arm bracing your back to help you stay on your feet and propel you forward into another monster’s grasping arms as you added another kill to your belt.  The exhilaration rushed over and through you, pushing a menacing grin on your face as you took down whatever moved. 

You were alive, even as death licked at your heels. 

As you could, you watched Gladio in action in intervals, marveling how such a large man swinging around a tree trunk of a weapon could make it seem like poetry in motion.  Exacting and brutal, just like the man himself, he laid swathes of daemons to waste and pushed forward to take out more.  You couldn’t help but let your exhaustion show a bit, through haggard breaths and constantly wiping sweat off of your brow, but Gladio appeared to be unscathed by the workout the unexpected battle brought right to you two… and it was terribly annoying. 

After what seemed like a tumultuous eternity, the generator flared back to life, the lights casting a glare on the dark land around it and simultaneously evaporating the groups that has thus far escaped the slaughter.  You spun in a circle, blinking repeatedly to clear the white spots from your eyes after such an environment change, then fazed your weapon out to place your hands on your knees and suck in cooling gulps of air.  Now your entire body ached, the whole thing of rushing from one end of Lestallum to the other, jumping off of the city wall, booking it to the generator and then getting hammered out into the wild catching up to you in one fell swoop.  You were just finding the gumption to straighten up and hear all of the cracking noises you knew your back would give, when you were forced up and backwards by a meaty hand grasping your chin and not stopping until the back of your head thumped against the side of the generator wall, making you wince. 

“You got anything else to say, _______?”  Gladio growled, his fingertips flexing ever so slightly just to remind you to think your response out carefully.  You opened your mouth to reply, then immediately forgot what it was you were going to toss back at him when the scent of him hit you and went right to the libido that was apparently rattled loose through all of the fighting.  He smelled like warm amber and roasted chestnuts somehow, and you stared at the beads of sweat running trails down his temple and matting his hair to the side of his face.  You didn’t think that Gladio really had anything to grow into, seeing how much more physically mature the Shield seemed to be to the rest of your group, but looking at him close up now was proving you dead wrong.  The baby fat that was in his face ten years ago melted away into something leaner, making his features more pronounced and ruggedly beautiful.  And as you stared into the unique shade his eyes always were, you saw them searching you in a similar fashion.  They blazed still with anger at your previous belligerence, but traveled along your chest and hips in a hungry manner. 

“If I do?”  You finally asked, trying to put an unconcerned yet haughty lilt in your voice that just ended up coming out kind of hoarse and low. 

Gladio glared at you for a few moments lighter, and you only allowed your eyelids to flutter once as his grip on your chin tightened for a moment to where you were sure he would leave bruises.  Then… his lips parted in a slow smile, one that put you in the mind of a predator that had its prey exactly where they wanted it to be.  This time your stomach fluttered with butterflies rather than apprehension, and you barely let yourself swallow. 

“Then I know how to shut you up." 

Heavy breathing accented the meeting of your lips over and over again, each of your battling for dominance much like the first time you had admitted to a fair amount of sexual tension between you two. You did, however, refrain from biting him this time, not wanting to trigger anything more fierce than what you were already dealing with.  His tongue was damn near filling the inside of your mouth, and you could barely let out the whimper that escaped from your throat as you fought to keep your head on straight.  But you were physically weary, and that made it difficult for you to go toe to toe with Gladio like this and come out on top.  It definitely didn’t help when you felt his other hand snake between your legs and shamelessly rubbed at your crotch, and you writhed while the hold on your composure started slipping from you. 

“Why are you so wet that I can feel it through your _pants_ , _______,” Gladio growled, his fingers working at your clothed nether regions and causing the layers of fabric to rub against your clit. “Fighting daemons get you that randy?" 

“Hmmm, maybe just _this_ daemon,” you felt along and grabbed the outline of his cock pressing at the front of his pants.  It was just as big and meaty as you remembered, and the answering grunt that he gave as you touched him made you grin triumphantly.   _He’s not gonna get away with teasing me like this without a little payback._  A few more moments passed with the both of you locked in a heated stare, fondling each other while your breaths became heavy yet neither of you would back down.  Eventually, Gladio had enough of that, and spun you around and had you braced against the wall as he leaned forward to let his breath tickle at your neck from behind. 

“Get these pants off, as I’m sure you don’t want to do that walk of shame through Lestallum.”  His tongue licked at the shell of your earlobe.  “Although I’m _sorely_ tempted to rip them anyway just for all of the shit you spat at me earlier." 

“You would, dickhead,” you shot back, the waver in your voice apparent as you unbuttoned your jeans and worked them down.  Your combat boots wouldn’t allow you to get them much further than below your knees, but you knew that was all the room he would need.  The warmth of the palm of his hand on your butt suffused you with a fair amount of desire, especially as he pulled the fabric of the panties you cheekily left on to the side. 

“But you love it.” Gladio gave your left asscheek a slap before he moved to free himself from his own leather pants.  The sound of his zipper lowering had you pressing your forehead against the cool surface of the generator in front of you, spreading your legs as wide as they would go with the hinderance your clothes were causing you.  It was fairly insane to be getting ready to have the fuck of your life from a man you hadn’t seen in ten years and just chewed out, but you weren’t keen on stopping anything that was going to happen. 

“Your pussy smells just as good as I remember it, _______,” His large hand smoothed until it rested on your lower back.  The head of his member slicked along your folds from behind, and your palms against the wall immediately felt clammy.  “I’m sure it’s just as good in other ways, too." 

With that, he pushed inside you, and the stretch your walls made to accommodate him was almost painful.  He didn’t rush anything, but he certainly kept pressing until his full length was nestled deep within you, and you noticed after the fact how much he held his breath until the last moment.  Then he started moving, and your mouth opened of its own accord and let out something between a purr and a moan.  In the still of the night, with only a small breeze intermittent in arrival, you could hear the lewd sounds your bodies made as they joined together.  Gladio’s fingers had twisted in the waistband of your panties, using that as leverage to drag you back and forth along his cock as you loosened up.  The only words that were able to leave your lips were some combination of his name and “fuck, yes, more”, and every time you did it seemed as though he acquiesced by making his thrusts just that much harder, and angling just right to hit your g-spot. You didn’t know whether or not it was because your body had already been pushed to the limit before then, but your orgasm was quick to rise. 

“Gladio… Gladio, _fuck_ … I’m…" 

“Let it go, baby girl,” he coaxed, wisps of his hair brushing past you.  “I’m right behind you." 

Not like you needed his permission at all, but it was all too easy to follow through with his request with how on edge you had been the entire time, and cried out loudly as you spasmed around the cock still racing within you to completion.  You were just reaching the time in which his thrusts were overstimulating when his hips stuttered and he gave a guttural groan, releasing himself inside of you.  The warmth of his chest pressed against your back as he rode it out, and you let the side of your face rest against the surface of the generator. _Damn.  That was a ride._  Feeling Gladio’s hot breath on your neck even out, you two were left with the low hum of electricity surrounding you and the unnatural stillness of the everlasting night. 

“You’re right, you know.  I wasn’t man enough to heal with you all,” Gladio murmured, resting his cheek against you.  “I hated hearing it, but it doesn’t make it less true.  I was… caught up in my own head for longer than I thought.  I think about how the last real words I exchanged with Noct were shameful ones that cut him deeper than he deserved.  I remember how silent Iggy was after I chewed him out, and how I shoved Prompto away when he tried getting in the way.  I may have meant well… but fuck, I was an idiot. And now he’s gone, just like that, and the next time I see him I don’t think I’ll have enough time to bridge that gap before he’s gone again.”  He pulled out of you slowly, and though you missed the fullness inside you, it gave your body a much needed reprieve.  Shaking hands adjusted your panties and pulled up your pants, buttoning them securely before turning around to see him.  Gladio had put his  own clothes back in order in what seemed like a wistful daze, his eyes partly out of focus down and off to the side of your face. 

“Gladdy…” you tugged on his arm.  “The only one putting these expectations on your shoulders is you.  Whenever Noct comes back, he’s going to be too happy to see all of us together again to bother with keeping you at arms length.  Besides, who the hell you know holds a grudge for ten years?" 

He snorted.  “I’m sure there’s someone out there so pissed that they’re holding onto some shit for eternity, you never know.”  He pulls you to him and wraps you in a hug, and actually kisses the top of your head as he does so. “I’m sorry, ________.  This… wasn’t really how I wanted our reunion to go." 

You looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.  “Are you sure?  Because I know for a fact you _love_ fucking me outdoors." 

Gladio breaks out into full on belly laughter then, and its contagiousness settles into your weary bones as you giggle along with him.  “Alright, true.  Could’ve dealt without the daemons though.”  His hands slipped from your waist to fondle your ass.  “ _Damn_ girl, you’ve filled out.  You were banging before, but now you’re-“ his praise abruptly cut short.  “You’re vibrating." 

“Ah, that’s my phone,” You pushed his hand away from your ass long enough to grab the device and put it to your ear.  “Hello?" 

“________, we’ve reached the west wall and the guard here has informed me that he last saw you leap off into a pack of ravenous daemons.  Where are you?”  Ignis said without preamble, and you gave a pained smile that he couldn’t see at his tone. 

“Oh… I can expl-" 

The phone was snatched from your hand as Gladio took over.  “Don’t worry, I saved her ass from becoming mincemeat out in the dirt here from an Iron Giant, Iggy. No, she _wasn’t_ being vigilant, that shit pissed me off, too." 

Your mouth dropped open as he carried on with Ignis as if he had not been out of contact with the group for years, with you as the subject of discussion.  “Hold on, don’t-" 

“She was brave, but stupid. … I _know_ , I trained her better than that, too, but-" 

“GLADIOLUS AMICITIA.  GIVE ME MY FUCKING PHONE BACK RIGHT NOW,” you stomped your feet, ignoring the pain that radiated almost up to your shoulders with the impact.  His response was to turn away from you and start walking off towards town, staying within the range of the lights. 

“It’s nice to hear from you, too.  I was out being a dick, as always.  Yeah.  Oh, when did Prompto come back around?  Ah, hold on,” Gladio turned around, jerking his head at you.  “Iggy says I have to keep a close eye on you, so keep up." 

You made an irritated sound at him, but picked up your pace.  “How the hell do you two get away with treating me like a child even after all these years?" 

“Because we love you.  And you grind our gears.  Anyway, Iggy, what’s for dinner?  I’m fucking starving." 

Sighing through your nose, you just kept pace with the man holding your phone and your love hostage, and let yourself enjoy the banter you were hearing.   _That makes four of us… now we just await you, your majesty._


End file.
